Thoughts from...the wild side

A random set of postings about my work. Things from the past, what I'm working on now, future projects, and all the peripherals that go with being an author. Happy to be directed, but never controlled.Jack

So why go back to The Wild Side and revisit the existing books? Well, for one thing it would be good to tidy up some of the writing - the earlier books in particular are in need of some work. But it's not a major issues - I wouldn't have then out there if it was. The main thing is that the books don't make a proper series at the moment. Each book is fine as a stand alone piece of reading, which is good and something I want to keep. The connections, however, are too loose in some cases, which is due to the history and evolution of the series...

The Wild Side, as shown here using the original book cover, was actually the second book I wrote as Jack Brighton (the first being 007 - A Licence to Bondage). When I wrote it in the autumn of 2009, I had no thoughts whatsoever about any follow up. It was a story about Barry, an inquisitive young lad who meets Ralph, an older dominant man. They spend a weekend together where Ralph introduces Barry to a BDSM master/slave way of life, culminating in a visit to Ralph's favourite night club... The Wild Side. The club is described, but not in huge detail. We meet the manager, Mr Charles, but no one else who features in the later books.It was a year and a half later that I had the idea to write another, almost unrelated story, featuring two new main characters, Mitch and Harry, but using The Wild Side as the club where much of the action takes place. Mr Charles again appears, and the club owner, Angus McCloud is introduced. This was FISTED!!! and with its release in spring of 2011 - Tales from The Wild Side was technically born. It was after writing FISTED!!! that I saw the potential for more books based around this club and started to build a picture. It was only after the book was released, however, that The Wild Side world started to take shape and the central characters came into being. The idea was to introduce a new worker at the club (an English public schoolboy) and see it all through his eyes. But it was more than the club I wanted him to see - it was the whole world of gay BDSM, and for that I needed a couple of helpers and someone special as a sort of romance interest. Enter Angus McCloud's three slaves... Sven, Marco, and Paddy McGuire.It was here that I got into a bit of a muddle which is something that definitely needs to be revisited. I had so much material with all the ideas I had, that I ended up writing two parallel books. The first released was The Spanking Room, followed shortly by The Untamed Slave. Without proper planning and thinking ahead, I feel that a mistake was made in having two different characters for the schoolboy: Jarvis in The Spanking Room, then moving the time-scale on by three months, I had Jarvis's replacement in The Unchained Slave in the form of an ex-school mate called Dylan. So by summer 2011 I had four Tales from The Wild Side - each a separate tale, but with some common characters appearing. I also had a gem in Paddy McGuire, who is easily my favourite creations. I wanted more of Paddy (as did quite a few people who read the books), and Dylan's story had only just started. There was scope to develop both. This is where The Wild Side started to change from being individual tales into a proper series where characters are allowed to develop. It was another year before I went back to The Wild Side, but in 2012, it really took off with Made for Auction moving things significantly along with Dylan and Paddy, followed by The Taming of Gangster Gaz taking them a little further. But the key relationship is not that between Paddy and Dylan - it's between Paddy and Angus. I needed to explain this very complex situation, and to do so I had to go back in time... This became The Wild Side of Paddy McGuire.That book is by far my largest piece of work, but I still had so much material left over, and ideas that the book generated, that I went on to write Boot Camp Week, using some of the ideas and material to create another sort of stand alone tale, but featuring all the main characters who make brief appearances. Add to that the Christmas book that came out as another stand alone tale, and you have The Tales from The Wild Side: disjointed tales with a mini series in there somewhere, and a major disruption in terms of time. Despite this, the Tales from The Wild Side have proved very popular.Popularity is great, but I didn't want to become bogged down. I wanted to try some new things - as Jack Brighton, but also attempting a different style as Tom Farrell. The Wild Side was therefore neglected for a while, with only that Christmas book being re-issued under a new and extensive guise since the release of Boot Camp Week in January 2013. But for many months now I've wanted to revisit it. And in making a start, I came to appreciate how disjointed the existing books are. It might prove annoying to people who have read the existing work, but one of the great things about self-publishing e-books, is that you can go back and make changes, so that new readers can get a different, and hopefully better vision.So that's what I'm doing. Going back to the start and pulling it all together to make a proper series. The first question, though, given all the above is... where should it start?Chronologically it should start with 'when Paddy met Angus' in The Wild Side of Paddy McGuire. The first book released was The Wild Side itself, so in theory that has a strong case. But oddly enough I'm putting these two tales near the end of the current set of nine books (book 6 and 8 respectively given the current plan). In my mind, the start has to be with the English public schoolboy, and seeing the world of The Wild Side through his eyes. Jarvis and Dylan both played the part, but it is Dylan who goes on and whose story is developed, so it has to be Dylan who survives. There needs to be a re-writing of The Spanking Room and The Unchained Slave to accommodate this - with the second of those books being the one which needs infinitely more work. From there onwards the other books will fall into place with only a few minor tweaks to address the time-scales. After that I can tackle some new books to add to the series.

No big surprise, but I'm a massive fan of Dusty. I was a huge fan long before I realised she was a gay icon, and even that piece of news didn't put me off. The woman had pure class... and as for that voice! Then of course there is her legacy of timeless songs, and for me the jewel in her sparkling crown has to be... GOIN' BACK.

I was thinking about it yesterday when walking along the Sanap cliffs to Xlendi. My normal walk on the Ta' Cenc plateau is off limits at present, thanks to Angelina Jolie...

Oh yeah, I didn't mention! That's the problem with irregular bloggers - things gets missed so easily. But yes, Hollywood has come to my little island of Gozo with its thirty thousand inhabitants. Angelina is making a film here, starring her good self and some bloke called Brad who she apparently got married to recently. They have cordoned off an area with armed police protecting it, so that Mgarr ix-Xini bay, which is my favourite summer swimming haunt and a mere mile from where I live, can be used for the film set without any trouble from inquisitive locals. It's being going on for a couple of months with one more month to go. To be honest I would have expected a social visit by now, but sadly Angelina, and even more so Brad, haven't come a calling on this particular author.

Anyway, I digress... This is about Goin' Back. In November I'll be goin' back to Mgarr ix-Xini and hope to find the bay unspoiled by the work of fantasy that is currently being produced there. In the meantime I'm goin' back to somewhere else... to a place in London that is another creation of fantasy. It's called The Wild Side, and after far too long away, I'm goin' back... back to the new and stories yet untold, but first I'm goin' back to sort out the old, to make The Wild Side a legacy that I can be proud of - the jewel in Jack Brighton's tarnished crown.

Oh, I'm also goin' back to blogging, so you'll hear a lot more about this over the coming months as The Wild Side gets relaunched and made into a proper series with continuity and chronology that works, then beyond as the first of the new tales is released. After a spell in the Doldrums having tired of it for a while, my fingers are itching over the keyboard again, so for the remainder of 2014 I'll be goin' back. Then come the New Year I'll be goin' forward with a whole series of new 'Tales from The Wild Side'. I have plenty of ideas, but am always open to more. So suggestions on a postcard, or e-mail if you must, to...

Jack Brighton

Jack Brighton is a British author who specialises in gay erotica with a BDSM slant. His books are widely available on all major e-book and specialist erotica sites, published by his company – Firm Hand Books.